Apparatus for use in mercerizing.



No. 737,374. PATENTED AUG. 25, 1908. J. R. EGOB.

APPARATUS FOR USE IN MERCERIZING.

.APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 1899.

N0 MODEL. R

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l aakmREwa. f4/@74% Z M Patented August 25,` 190e. i

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ROBERTS EOOB, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR USE IN MERCERIZING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 737,374, dated August25, 1903.

Application filed April 17,1899. Serial No. '713.237- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN ROBERTS ECOB, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Lawrence, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts,have invented au Improvement in Apparatus for use in Mercerizing, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a ,speeicatiom like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

In the mercerization of fabrics, especially where a product of highluster is sought, great annoyance is experienced from the transverseshrinkage of the fabric and the consequent reduction in its marketablearea. Attempts have been made to counteract this shrinkage by the use oftentering-machines; but these, unsatisfactory at best, have provedthemselves particularly inadequate to the severe conditions ofmercerization, and no suitable expedient has been advanced heretofore.

My present invention is directed toward the removal of this obstacle tothe successful application of mercerization to fabrics, and in carryingit out I have adopted the novel principle of maintaining the materialduring the period of its liability to shrinkage in frictional contactthroughout a substantial portion of its area with a suitable surface,and while thus in contact harmful contraction of the material isprevented. The process which I have invented for securing these ends ismade the subject-matter of application Serial No. 6,669, filed onFebruary 27, 1900, by me as a division of the present application inresponse to a requirement of the Patent Office. The said applicationdescribes in detail my process, and the present application relates toapparatus for carrying out the aforesaid process.

Use may be made of my method, above referred to, at any stage ofmercerizing treatment, in which it may be utilized to advantage; but Iconsider that it is of greatest utility during the immersion of thematerial in alkaline solutions and until set, Whether afterneutralization by an acid or otherwise.

The surface with which the material is to be maintained in frictionalcontact may be of any suitable contour and presented by any suitablemeans; but I regard as preferable the use of rolls closely adjacent eachother tages of compactness and a desirable application of their weightto the material, and it will be found of considerable advantage to gearthe rolls together and drive them positively; but a horizontal or otherarrangement of such rolls and the use of means other than gravity tomaintain them in proper relation to the material under treatment andAeach other would not be outside the scope of my invention.

A very high degree of efficiencyv may be obtained from an apparatuswherein the material is led to and fro between and in the most intimateperipheral contact with the respective members of a plurality ofadjacent stacks of rolls, to the squeezing action of which the materialis subjected preferably time after time while immersed in the duid agentand preferably not released from the tenacious surfaces of the rollsthroughout its period of immersion and until set or at such a stage thatits contractile tendency shall have ceased to be harmful.

The variousfeatures of my invention will be illustrated and describedfully in the accompanying drawing and speciicationand pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawing the figure illustrates in vertical longitudinal sectionapparatus in the construction of which myimprovements have .beenembodied.

To enable my invention of an apparatus for use in the art of mercerizingto be understood readily and thoroughly, I have selected forillustration, in connection with the follow.- ing description, anapparatus constituting one convenient form of means by which my methodabove referred to may be carried into effect and which presents certainimprovements of construction, to which reference will be made more atlength hereinafter.

The reference-letter a designates a receptacle which may be of anysuitable contour and material and in the instance illustrated takes theform of a rectangular tank, preferably of iron, when the iuidagentiindicated by the letter'b) is to be an alkali, as caustic soda.

The action of such a solution is pro- IOO ductive in very marked degreeof the deleterious shrinkage, to the obviation of which my improvementsare directed, and I have illustrated accordinglya construction adaptedto yield an extraordinary resistance to the contractile tendency,leaving to the discretion of those skilled in the art the variation ofconstruction proper to suit the exigencies of particular reagents andmaterials.

The surface in contact with which the material is to be maintained ispresented in the instance illustrated by rolls c, which serve also tosqueeze the material, being arranged in upright series to the number offour to suit the proportions of the tank illustrated and affording threeregions of pressure upon the material d as it passes between adjacentrolls of the series. In passing from one such region to the next thematerial will hug the periphery of the roll which it is about to leave,and preferably the rollsused Will approach in form with a considerabledegree of nicety a true cylinderof unbroken continuity, although it willbe understood that any surface which will prevent effectivelydeleterious shrinkage will fall within the scope of my invention. Whereit is desirable to prolong the period of immersion in the Huid containedby the receptacle, an additional series maybe provided, and in theinstance illustrated this takes the form of another upright seriescomposed of rolls e, and to effect the convenient transfer of thematerial d from one to the other of these series I have shown a rollfintermediate and preferably tangent through the material to therespectively lowest rolls c e, thus insuring perfect continuity in thetreatment of the material, a feature which will be found of greatadvantage in many instances. The support and actuation of these rollsmay be accomplished in any suitable manner, and as one convenientarrangement I have shown the rolls as geared each to its neighbor, as atg, and driven positively through the medium of the rollf from a suitablesource of power. (Not shown.) Guideframes or other suitable means h maybe pro'- vided to maintain the rolls in upright relation, andbearing-blocks or the like 1l may be Autilized for the journals j of therolls, permitting, if desired, freedom of vertical movement, so that bygravity the respective members of each series will be maintained intan-- gency with neighboring rolls even down to the roll f, the axle 7cwhereof may find its seat, if desired, in a stationary bearing m.

For the sake of illustrating the flexibility of my invention ofanapparatus for use in the art of mercerizing n may be considered as atank for acid o, with a protective cement liningp and stacks of rolls qr, which for the sake of convenience in illustration have been shown assimilar in form and arrangement to those already described. When it isdesired to maintain perfect continuity in contact of the material withneighboring roll-surfaces throughout its period of treatment, a rolltmay be placed in position to coperate with the uppermost rolls in theseries e and q, respectively, and if thought wise it may have an axle u,journaled in bearings u, bolted,

preferably, as at w, to the adjacent guide-V frames and servingtoprevent separation of the latter .under the downward thrust of theroll t. Additional means to the same end may be provided, as the boltsIt will be readily apparent that mercerizing apparatus built upon thesystem above detailed is extremely iiexible, inasmuch as variation maybe had as desired in the number of receptacles, the number of stacks ina receptacle, and of rolls in a stack, so that from a single pair ofrolls operating upon the material while it is immersed the series may beextended as desired and found suitable.

The resistance to the contractile tendency and the squeezing of thematerial will be found to result in a high degree of luster in thefinished product with a minimum of attendance necessary, as will beeasily understood from the close coperation of the instrumentalities ofthe apparatus, few in number and lending themselves readily to strengthof construction.

In the apparatus of this invention the frictional contact between thesurface of the rolls or other suitable means and the material beingmercerized serves alone to prevent shrinkage of the material induced bythe powerful contractileintiuence of the mercerizing fluid, and yet thisfrictional contact is essentially of such a character that even thelightest and most distensible fabrics can be successfully mercerizedwithout resultant harmful shrinkage.

Having thus fully disclosed my apparatus for use in the art ofmercerizing, it will be understood that I do not limit myself to theexact means illustrated, nor with respect to the novel features of theapparatus to the exact materials, nor construction detailed, nor i-ngeneral otherwise than as set forth in the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

l. Mercerizin g apparatus; comprising a receptacle for a fluid used inone of the stepsof mercerization; and means in said receptaclepresenting below the region attained by the working level of said fluida surface in frictional contact with which material being mercerized ismaintained throughout its immersion to enable said material to resistcontractile tendency.

2. Mercerizing apparatus; comprising a receptacle for a fluid used in`one of the steps of mercerization; and means in said receptaclepresenting below the region attained by the working level of said fluida surface in `frictional contact with which material being mercerized ismaintained throughout its immersion to enable said material to resistcontractile tendency; said means comprising a IOO IIO

series of tangent rolls, between which rolls, and around the peripherieswhereof, said material may be led into and out of said fluid.

3. Mercerizing apparatus comprising a receptacle for a fluid used in oneof the steps of mercerization, and a plurality of stacks of rollsbetween which rolls and around the peripheries thereof said material isled and maintained in continuous frictional contact from the point ofentrance into said fluid up to the point of departure therefrom.

4. Mercerizing apparatuscomprising a re ceptacle for a fluid used in oneof the steps of mercerizing, aplurality of rolls in independent uprightseries, and an intermediate roll below, and connecting, said series.

5. Mercerizing apparatus comprising a receptacle for a fluid used in oneof the steps of memorization, and aplurality of stacks of rolls betweenwhich rolls and around the peripheries thereof said material is led andmaintained in continuous frictional contact from the point of entranceinto said fluid up to the point of departure therefrom, said rolls beinggeared together, and driven positively.

6. Mercerizing apparatus comprisinga plurality of receptacles for fluidsused in the steps of mercerizing, tangent rolls in series in saidreceptacles, said series being in tangent con nection with each other toenable material to be led from one receptacleto another and be ceptacleto contain mercerizing fluid, a series of tangent rolls, and means toactuate them to feed the material to be mercerized into, through and outfrom said receptacle, said rolls constituting a continuous support forsaid material in its travel through said receptacle, whereby thetendency of the material to contract in area is resisted.

9. A mercerizing apparatus including a trough tocontain the mercerizingsolution, and a series of cylindrical rolls with which a fabric may havecontinuous contact throughout the entire series, and constituting bythemselves the only means for preventing shrinkage of the fabric.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN ROBERTS ECOB.

Witnesses:

THoS. BEVINGTON, HENRY TONGUE.

